Berzel Best

Full Stack Laravel Developer

Highly skilled Full Stack Software Engineer with over 6 years of hands-on experience designing, developing, and maintaining scalable web applications and payment platforms across fintech, e-commerce, and enterprise domains. Strong background in PHP (Laravel, Lumen), JavaScript (React, Vue.js), and RESTful microservice architectures, with proven expertise in system migrations, performance optimization, and CI/CD automation. Adept at collaborating with cross-functional teams in agile environments, contributing to architecture design, mentoring peers, and ensuring high-quality code delivery.

Work Experience

Full Stack Laravel Developer

Payfast by Network

04/2023 - PresentCape Town, SA

Software Development

Achievement/Tasks

Designed and developed medium to large-scale microservices using modern PHP and JavaScript frameworks (primarily Laravel and Vue.js) along with various open-source technologies.
Upgraded and migrated major microservices from Laravel/Lumen 6 to Laravel 11, enhancing performance and maintainability.
Refactored legacy codebases to align with SOLID principles, improving readability, scalability, and long-term maintainability.
Integrated multiple payment-related REST APIs, including Core Banking, VISA, MasterCard, Shopify, and WordPress plugins.
Actively participated in Agile ceremonies, including daily stand-ups, sprint planning, and retrospectives.
Optimized communication between microservices and front-end systems using RabbitMQ, Redis, and WebSockets.
Contributed to GitLab code reviews, monitored CI/CD pipelines, managed production deployments, and resolved post-deployment issues.
Mentored team members and authored comprehensive technical documentation for complex systems and services.
Enhanced SQL query performance through code profiling and optimization using Blackfire.io, XDebug, and manual analysis.

Senior Laravel Developer

STAXO Group

11/2022 - 11/2024London, UK

Software Development

Achievement/Tasks

Collaborated with cross-functional teams — including Product, QA, Data, and DevOps — to deliver robust, end-to-end software solutions.
Designed, implemented, and deployed bankzy.co.uk, an open banking payment platform enabling instant bank-to-bank transactions at significantly lower costs than traditional card payments.
Contributed to the maintenance and enhancement of m-park.co.uk, a truck parking payment and compliance management solution.
Led the design and deployment for a custom CRM system developed for Blakedown Sports & Play, one of the UK’s leading sports facility construction firms.
Actively participated in client meetings, sprint planning, daily stand-ups, code reviews, and production deployments, ensuring smooth project delivery and client satisfaction.

Full Stack Web Developer

WebDev Private Limited

12/2019 - 10/2022

Software Development

Achievement/Tasks

Monitored and maintained mission-critical payment systems such as paynow.co.zw, ensuring high availability and reliability.
Redesigned and implemented new front-end interfaces for classifieds.co.zw, while optimizing SQL query performance by eliminating N+1 query issues to improve load times and efficiency.
Developed and integrated new Laravel microservices to support additional features and enhance scalability on topup.co.zw.
Built and customized WordPress themes for client websites including rainhampark.co.zw, ucpf.co.zw, and masawara.com, ensuring brand alignment and responsiveness.
Actively participated in client meetings, sprint planning, daily stand-ups, and deployments, contributing to project delivery and team collaboration.

Full Stack Web Developer

QwikTech Solutions

03/2018 - 11/2019

Software Development

Achievement/Tasks

Owned and maintained complex microservices powering the magetsi.co.zw online bill payments platform, ensuring reliability and seamless transaction processing.
Implemented automated deployment pipelines using custom Jenkins CI/CD workflows, significantly improving release efficiency and reducing manual deployment errors.
Actively participated in planning sessions, design reviews, presentations, and retrospectives, contributing to continuous improvement in team processes and product quality.

Backend Java Developer

Quatrohaus Private Limited

02/2016 - 07/2017

Software Development

Achievement/Tasks

Assisted in the development and implementation of microservices for the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe, utilizing Spring Microservices, Camunda BPMN, and persistence frameworks.